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The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves are finishing up a three-game set today at 12:15 pm EDT. They split the first two games of the series, so this is the rubber match that will determine who will win the set.
Cardinals vs. Braves Recent Form and Records
The Braves have begun to rebound from a truly dismal start, as they're now 9-14 on the season. They're still in fifth place in the NL East, but they are coming off a two-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins.
The Cardinals are not much better. They're 10-14 and in fourth place in the NL Central. They are coming off a series loss to the New York Mets in which they lost all four contests.
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Players to Watch
Starting Pitchers
Miles Mikolas (0-2, 7.64 ERA, 11 strikeouts) vs. Bryce Elder (0-1, 7.20 ERA, 10 strikeouts)
Mikolas was 10-11 with a 5.35 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 122 strikeouts in 171.2 innings pitched last year.
Last Start: 4.2 innings, five hits, two earned runs, two walks, and one strikeout.
Career vs. Braves: 3-4 with a 3.77 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 45.1 innings (eight appearances).
Elder was 2-5 with a 6.52 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 46 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched last season.
Last Start: Five innings, six hits, four earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts.
Career vs. Cardinals: 1-2 with a 4.24 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched (three appearances).
Must-watch Hitters
Braves
Marcell Ozuna is one of the few Braves consistently hitting this year. He's batting .317 with an incredible .500 on-base percentage.
Sean Murphy leads the team with six home runs, and he has 12 RBIs. He also has a .948 OPS.
Cardinals
Brendan Donovan is one of the MLB leaders in average, as he is hitting a team-high .356. He also has 32 hits overall and a .392 OBP.
Nolan Arenado already has 0.9 bWAR for the season, the third-most on the team. He's got a .375 on-base percentage as well.
Injuries
Brendan Donovan was day-to-day on April 22, but he could be back in the lineup tonight after he was not placed on the Cardinals' Injured List. Spencer Strider went back on the IL for the Braves in their latest update.
Cardinals vs Braves Baseball Betting Odds
Cardinals vs Braves Expert Predictions
The pitching matchup in this one is pretty bad. On one hand, the Cardinals are going with a veteran who hasn't been good in a while and is awful in 2025. On the other hand, the Braves are going with a young pitcher who once showed promise but has also struggled mightily of late.
The offenses are pretty evenly matched. The Braves have struggled, but they have talent, and the Cardinals' offense has played pretty well this season. It's a toss-up, but the Braves are at home.
Prediction: Braves 5, Cardinals 4
